NICE: Improve health and save money

NICE: Improve health and save money

How councils can improve public health while saving money is the focus of the latest briefing from the National Institute of Care and Health Excellence (NICE).

The briefing, examines how local authorities can judge the health and economic gains of focusing on preventions, rather than cures.

An interactive infographic created by NICE is used to illustrate that public health interventions can save local authorities money.

Professor Mike Kelly, director of the centre for public health and NICE said: “The comparatively small cost of interventions to tackle issues like obesity, physical activity and smoking is outstripped by the savings in the medium to long-term due to improved health and related factors like greater productivity and lower benefit bills.”

According to Professor Kelly, alcohol problems alone cost £20 billion annually in England. And by 2015 obesity is predicted to cost around £37 billion a year.

He added: “This new briefing aims to make it easier for councillors and local authority staff to judge which public health actions are most effective for improving the health of their communities while also providing the best value for money.”